End of An Era? No More Meijer Penny Horses?

Could it be true? One of my earliest memories is of riding the penny horses at our local (Jenison, back then) Meijer store. Either my mom or grandma would pass me a penny or two to take a ride on the electric steed which, back then, even had a leather saddle. Sometimes, a kind soul would leave a penny or two on the control box for a child to find, like a treasure, and take a free ride.

The horses changed over time, the leather went away, seat belts, some became pink, some evolved into dinosaurs (go figure), but the ride was the same; simple safe, pure. Thankfully, my son Cal had a chance to ride on the horses at our local Meijer (Grand Haven and Muskegon), I managed to capture this picture with my phone:
Well, last week we visited the store and they were gone. No dinosaur, no pinkie, and now no brownie. Friday, I spotted one in a local auto shop, bought second hand from a local contractor. Set aside like every other remnant of a simple, more pure past in a society that used to function by the penny, a simple reward. No, I am sure that Meijer will once again take up the electric ride market, since Walmart has them, but I fear they too will cost 50 cents and, in some fashion, work to market our kids with Elmo or some other trademarked character-icon. After all, we can afford it.